As the US is continuously forcing India to finish the civil nuclear deal before time, Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said that India knows the schedule but discussions can take their own time.

Mr. Menon said that India cannot go by any deadline set by America for the Indo-US nuclear agreement (N-deal).

When asked about the May deadline set by US legislators, Mr. Menon said, “We are not looking at a deadline. We know the time-table, we know what to do.”

Mr. Menon was answering to questions regarding N-deal on the sidelines of an India-US High Tech Cooperation Group meeting in Delhi.

Talking after his conference with US Under Secretary of Commerce Mario Mancuso on hi-tech exports, Menon said the government was trying to conclude the deal with IAEA as soon as possible.

The comments came a day after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates stated that India needed to finish negotiations with IAEA and look for exemptions from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at the earliest.

“The clock is ticking in terms of how much time is available to get all the different aspects of an agreement implemented,” Mr. Gates had said in New Delhi.

''We are still trying. We still hope to rap it up as soon as we can, it's a negotiation and it takes two hands to clap. When we agree we will tell you,'' said Menon.

Mr. Menon also said he hoped the talks with the IAEA currently on in Vienna would be the last, but added he couldn't be certain.